Jeff Wayne Introduces a New Generation to His Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation, sleeve artwork

“ULLA!”

Does that word scare or excite you? Back at the end of the ’70s, it did both for me as I listened over and over again to my Dad’s LP of Jeff Wayne’s original prog-rock epic interpretation of H.G. Wells’ classic sci-fi novel, The War of the Worlds. It first came out just after Star Wars, and the two of them definitely shaped my childhood and got me into science fiction – I think the novel was one of the first sci-fi books that I read as a kid. I’ve listened to the album so many times over the last 30+ years – for me it’s one of those pieces of music that you know every riff, key change and drum fill in and I cannot stop singing/air-guitaring/air-drumming along to it.

When I first heard that Jeff Wayne wanted to record a new version of it, I was was very worried to say the least. How many ‘reboots’ have we seen recently and how many of them have been travesties? There have been many cover versions and remixes of the various tracks over the years and none of them can really be said to have improved upon the originals. However, given that it was still in the hands of the original creator, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. And the upcoming arena tour of the live show would give me the chance to be the ‘GeekKid’ for a change and take my Dad out for the evening – double bonus that the London date at the O2 was just after his birthday and very close to where he grew up in Greenwich.

That was December 2011, a whole year before the performance! When December 2012 came around, I’d almost forgotten about the whole thing. I hadn’t kept up with the news of the new performers on the album, the recording delays or the filming of the new scenes. I just about had time to listen to the original version of the music before the day came around and we were off to London to see the show. I think this worked out nicely as we could really come to it with fresh eyes and ears. We set off quite early so we could pop into Manze’s for a traditional Pie ‘n’ Mash lunch on our way – apparently my dad lived on them while at school – before wandering slowly along the river from Tower Bridge to Greenwich and the ex-Millennium Dome.

The Maestro and the Martian (all photos by Nathan Barry)

Merchandise and food purchased, we took our seats for the performance, which started promptly at 8. There are several new sections in the stage show – although, not having the seen the first stage production, I can’t say for sure which ones have been added for the ‘New Generation’ version. There’s a prologue featuring two amateur astronomers and a CGI film showing the Martians drawing ‘their plans against us,’ as well as a scene later on between the Journalist and his beloved Carrie.

Jeff Wayne came out and cranked up the ‘Black Smoke Band’ – featuring the original guitar and bass players – and the ULLAdubULLA string orchestra, and then our journey began. The whole production was as tight as it could possibly be, and at first I didn’t noticed any real changes in the music. The set captures the steampunk feel of 19th Century Britain perfectly. The new ‘hologram’ of Liam Neeson as the Journalist worked really well and he also appeared in footage on the big screen – something they obviously couldn’t do with Richard Burton’s version. There were some great set pieces with clever stage trickery including the death of the Parson’s Wife and The Artilleryman’s ‘Brave New World.’ And then of course there’s the famous ‘Fighting Machine,’ which descends from the rafters several times during the show – we could really feel the warmth from its flame-thrower ‘Heat Ray’ in the 11th row!

The Fighting Machine Decends

If there’s one aspect that lets the whole thing down a bit then it’s the CGI film running at the back of the stage. It has the right look stylistically, but at times it looks like the intro to a CD-ROM video game from the ’90s, complete with visible pixelation. During crowd scenes you can clearly see the same actor in several locations and easily spot loops of their performances. Fortunately, there’s enough action going on all over the stage that you don’t tend to focus on it for too long. With the interval between two acts, the whole thing lasted just over two hours and we both left on a massive high, eager to listen to the new recording in the comfort of our own homes.

I’ve deliberately left it a while before writing this post so as to give the ‘New Generation‘ recording some time to sink in and not to be overshadowed by the 30 years of familiarity I have with the original. As expected, it has its good points and bad points. The original was an incredibly well produced piece of music, but thirty years’ worth of technological advancements mean that the New Generation is on a whole other level. There is layer upon layer upon layer of tracks in the mix that all pull together to give an incredible rock-solid wall of sound, especially though a decent audio system or good quality headphones. It seems like each time I listen to it I spot a new synth swoosh or percussion rhythm in the background. The majority of the sound effects have been upgraded and there are lots of new ones inserted too. Computers and digital editing have replaced the physically cutting and splicing of 24 tracks of audio tape and the result is all the better for it. The sound is much tighter, crisper and harder, and it’s full of energy.

Unfortunately there are some areas where all the new toys have got the better of Mr. Wayne. Many of the warm, fuzzy, analogue synths have been replaced by cold, computerized ones, and some of the drumming is decidedly ‘euro-pop’ electronic. There’s even some of those cheesy ‘Hi-N-R-G’ ‘rave’ chords that the kids these days seem to like littered around ‘The Eve of the War.’ Some of the vocals have unnecessary echoes added and there are many more crescendos inserted into the epic tracks.

It’s not all bad though. The slightly naff sounding harpsichord has been toned down a touch, and the sound of the heat ray has been beefed up massively with six or seven tracks of guitar overlaid with each other and loads of deliberate distortion added. There’s a new, delightful widdly-widdly, axe-hero guitar solo in ‘Horsell Common and Heat Ray.’ At various moments, a spooky mumbling of Martian voices can heard in the background, adding to the overall eerie feel.

The Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson as The Artilleryman

Obviously the vocal performances are a massive part of the piece and it will take a while to adjust to them. Richard Burton gave the Journalist the perfect posh Englishman feel, whereas Liam Neeson’s slight Irish accent can be a little off putting at times, but it’s growing on me, especially thanks to seeing it on stage and the fact that there is more of the story included this time around. ‘The Sung Thoughts of the Journalist’ are now performed by Gary Barlow (from boy-band Take That) and he does it very well, certainly better than the slightly robotic, emotionless performance that Marti Pellow (of Wet, Wet, Wet) did in the live show. Parson Nathaniel and ‘The Voice of Humanity’ are both sung by relatively unknown (to me at least) vocalists, Maverick Sabre and Alex Clare. They do an OK job, but nothing grabs you like Phil Lynott’s crazed parson on the original or even Jason Donovan’s version in the live show.

Soul singer Joss Stone is good as the parson’s wife, but the stand out performance comes from the Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson as the Artilleryman. On the original this part was played by David Essex, who always sounded to me like a little posh boy trying to be a salt-of-the-earth Londoner, but Wilson’s version feels much more real and believable, especially when he returns later on, sans marbles. He was also the only one, not counting Liam Neeson, who appears in the stage show, and he proved himself to be a capable actor there too, giving the character an added depth as he leapt around the stage with great enthusiasm.

Judging by the audience at the stage show, it would seem that Jeff Wayne has succeeded in bringing his masterpiece to a new generation, as there were people of all ages there, from about 8 to 80, all loving it. For those of us that grew up with the original though, this new version takes a bit of getting used but it’s well worth the effort. If the original was that vintage VW Beetle you’ve owned and lovingly maintained from new, then the New Generation is that same Beetle after returning from the body shop with a fresh coat of metallic, two-tone paint, tinted, electric windows, a turbo-charged Porsche engine and a heating system that actually works!

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: The New Generation is available now on CD, Vinyl and download from Amazon and iTunes and all good record stores (they do still exist right?).

Nathan is a stay-at-home Dad, design geek, coder, and co-creator of the flutterly lovely Magic Belles, a new brand for little girls. Say hello at magicbelles.com or grab our new iOS app from the App Store